Excitement yesterday as the Wall Street Journal claimed that Amazon is “considering an advertising-supported streaming television and music-video service”. Sources claimed its plans also include ad-supported music videos, as well as selling related products and merchandise to people based on their music listening and watching habits. The only snag in this rumour? Amazon has explicitly denied it. “We’re often experimenting with new things, but we have no plans to offer a free streaming-media service,” spokesperson Sally Fouts told Variety in a follow-up story. Of course, that wording leaves plenty of wiggle room: it’s not a denial that Amazon will launch a paid music streaming service, for example. If the company plans to remain committed to music, it would be strange for it not to launch a streaming service at some point, to sit alongside (and eventually overtake) its CD and MP3 businesses. “Free” is also a tricky word to use in the context of Amazon’s Prime subscription service, which costs $99 a year. Adding music to that might feel “free” to existing users.
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Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…